|
AMERICAN MORNING
One Dead from West Virginia Flooding
Aired June 17, 2003 - 08:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, ANCHOR: Not the kind of delivery you would like from Fedex. This was the scene in West Virginia. Charleston, West Virginia. Emergency officials in that state are bracing for even more rain this morning. Storms causing severe flooding in three counties. Some areas have reported water rising to seven feet.
Kent Carper is the president of the Kanawha County Commission and he joins us now by phone.
Good morning, even if it is a soggy one, to you there in West Virginia.
KENT CARPER, KANAWHA COUNTY COMMISSION: Good morning, Daryn.
KAGAN: Can you tell us the conditions in your county, please?
CARPER: Well, the conditions are very bad. We've had at least a hundred people who have had severe or total damage to their homes. We've retrieved one body. The destruction to our public roadways and to public facilities have been very significant, totaling millions of dollars.
KAGAN: Is this just a case of too much rain in one place or is the infrastructure a problem, as well?
CARPER: Well, it's a number of things. In the city of Charleston, part of the infrastructure out in the county it's just too much rain. But it ha s been just torrential downpours back-to-back. We saw significant flooding last Tuesday. Some folks had barely cleaned up from that and then lost everything they owned.
KAGAN: And then looking ahead?
CARPER: Looking ahead, we must have a presidential disaster declaration or people literally will go without hope. Our governor, Governor Bob Weiss, has called upon that. I'm confident that President Bush will respond. Otherwise this county and this state can't recover from this.
KAGAN: Meanwhile, what other kind of help are people getting?
CARPER: Well, we're getting great help. The local media has done a great job and the government has begun disaster relief efforts. Cleanup supplies, funds for food. Shelter in our civic center.
But the real problem is the destruction of people's homes and the destruction of our infrastructure in the city of Charleston. It will take money to repair that type of damage.
KAGAN: And Kent, if you can just kind of put a number on this for us, how much rain would you have had by this time this year and how much rain have you actually had?
CARPER: Well, unlike other parts of the country, a quarter of an inch of rain at one time is a large event. We registered in some places six to eight inches of rain in less than an hour.
KAGAN: In less than an hour? No wonder we're seeing the pictures that we're seeing.
We wish you well. We send dry hopes your way.
CARPER: Thank you very much.
KAGAN: I think that's the best thing we can do for you. And good luck in getting the that the folks there need in Kanawha County, West Virginia. Kent Carper, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
|
